One of my long standing features of this site, the “Seat Selector” has been updated for the 2016 season.  The last time I updated it was in April of 2012, and a few things have happened since then.   The newest thing of course is the new scoreboard in left field, but I also have a much better camera on my phone now (iPhone 6s+), so I wanted to retake them with a better camera than last time.  The first version of it went online back in 1999 (less than a year after I started the site in Dec 1998).  I stopped doing daily game updates a couple of seasons ago, but some parts of the site (like this one) will always be updated.

Anyway, check it out by clicking on the picture below (which I took on Apr 2, 2016 standing in Section 326.   One note – the selector doesn’t seem to work on phones and tablets.  Not quite sure why (except I’m using an older HTML feature called the imagemap).   This does work fine using a proper web browser on a computer.

I picked these awhile ago, but real life has gotten in the way, and I’ve been unable to post the stories.  I picked a couple of winners, and am sending out the books.  One bonus that I didn’t tell people about.   I got Josh Lewin to autograph the books, too!   Josh was most kind, I mailed down the covers to him in Florida when the Mets were still in camp down there.  He sent them back to me, and now I’m ready to ship everything out, so I wanted to post the winners.  Thanks to those who entered, and if you missed the original post, go check it out, as it has my review of the book.   Let’s get to the winners:

1) Janis T.

I always enjoyed the interplay between Josh and Tom about “cookie talk”.  They had fun with it, and it didn’t just lie there between the two of them like a dead mackerel as it sometimes does now.  I know that’s inconsequential in the scheme of things, but as one of the people who is a Huge Rangers fan, and who also enjoyed making things to send up to the booth when I got to go to a game, it was fun. And hearing him shout “Ballgame!” after a win.  Always great.  I miss Josh.

2) Brandon C.

I think my favorite story about Josh was sitting in my bedroom after school on September 23, 2004, watching the Rangers face the Oakland A’s. I still remember keeping up with the game until I could get home, then turning the TV on in the bottom of the ninth, watching David Dellucci stride to the plate, and then seeing that swing. I saw the ball drop into fair territory, then all I remember next is Josh screaming hysterically as the two runs scored that would win the game, and for the first time in years would give the Rangers hope at making the playoffs. Even though it never came to fruition, that memory of Josh making one of the most exciting games in franchise history that much more exciting was something that I will cherish as a Rangers fan forever. If they’ll ever release the video of it, I’m pretty sure it will be one of the clips I show my kids one day to get them excited about baseball. But I have Josh to thank for really making it even more memorable than it already was.

3) Jeff W.

My absolute favorite Josh Lewin moment came when Bengie Molina hit for the cycle in Boston in 2010. Both Grieve and Lewin were fired up all game long with how well Molina was hitting, including his grand slam. But then, when Molina drilled that hit in one of the most improbable spots in Fenway, there was a point when both of them realized that this could be it.  The most unlikely player on the team was going to do the impossible. And there it was, “Big Fella”, as Josh affectionately called him, slid into 3rd and also into the history books. And the best part?  For that 12 seconds it took Molina to move 270 feet, Lewin wasn’t an announcer. He was a fan, just like the rest of us.

And finally, here’s my own favorite..

My single favorite memory (sorry if I already told you this) was probably the time you punked TAG with the telestrator, by diagramming something on the field, and you ended up writing JOSH.  I wish I had that on TiVo.  Most people will go with the Hamilton walkoff where Josh practically screamed his lungs out of his mouth with BALLGAME!!!!

And while I’m at it, I think my favorite TAG moment is probably when Hideki Irabu was with the Rangers..  He was getting shelled, and going to commercial, TAG”s mike wasn’t closed, and he said “This guy couldn’t pitch his way out of a fucking paper bag!”.  Roared on that one.  Loved the honest reaction there, but that’s something you guys can never do.  heh.

As we move on with the earliest stages of spring training, I’m updating some parts of my site, getting them ready for the upcoming season.  One of which is a photo page that shows all (well, a lot, I’d be a liar to say it’s all) the pocket schedule images from 1972-2013.   From the mid 90’s onwards, I’ve gotten them myself at the games, earlier than that I’ve acquired via finding them on the net, or having someone send in pictures for me.  Today, I have someone to thank.  His name is Bob – he never sent me his last name.

While I have at least one schedule for every season the club has been in texas, I’m pretty sure I don’t have all the variants produced.  Bob sent me five images of alternate versions I did not have, so I put them up on my site.  Check out these historical remnants from the past..

[Read more…]